Senior Church of England figures "colluded" with a disgraced bishop to conceal evidence of his sex offences, a report has found.

The report, the result of an 18 month-long enquiry by Dame Moira Gibb, found that senior clergy "trivialised" the actions of the disgraced bishop and sought to protect its reputation by failing to pass on evidence of further abuse.

Ball, a former bishop of Lewes and of Gloucester, admitted abusing boys and was jailed in October 2015 for indecent assault and misconduct in public office. He was released from prison earlier this year.

The report, published on Thursday, found that Lord Carey wrote to Peter Ball's twin brother, Bishop Michael Ball, in 1993, after Peter Ball had accepted a caution for gross indecency, saying he believed he was "basically innocent".

It added that several letters sent by members of the public who had witnessed or experienced evidence of abuse were not passed on to police, and that the Church had prioritised preserving its own reputation over supporting victims.

In a foreword, Dame Moira Gibb said that Ball had "abused many boys and men over a period of twenty years or more", a "shocking" fact which is "compounded by the failure of the Church to respond appropriately to his misconduct, again over a period of many years.

"Ball's priority was to protect and promote himself and he maligned the abused. The Church colluded with that rather than seeking to help those he had harmed, or assuring itself of the safety of others," she said.

Justin Welby, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, said the report, titled Abuses of Faith, made "harrowing reading".

"The Church colluded and concealed rather than seeking to help those who were brave enough to come forward," he said, adding that there were "no excuses whatsoever for what took place and the systemic abuse of trust perpetrated by Peter Ball over decades".

Ball, now 83, resigned as a bishop and accepted the caution in 1993 after Neil Todd, a young man who had stayed with him, told Church figures there had been "sexual activity" between the two. Mr Todd killed himself in 2012.

Several establishment figures also wrote to the CPS in support of Ball while he was under investigation, including Lord Lloyd, a former Lord Justice of Appeal, Lord Carey, Lord Donald Coggan, another former Archbishop of Canterbury, two MPs and several public school staff members and headmasters.

The report said that six letters containing evidence of further abuse, received by the Church after Mr Todd came forward, were not passed to police, which "must give rise to a perception of deliberate concealment".

Ball retired to a rented cottage on the Prince of Wales' Duchy of Cornwall estate and started to draw a pension. The report also criticises the "unusual degree of financial support from the Church" that he received in retirement.

But despite resigning his ministry church officials including Lord Carey allowed him to carry out services including baptisms and confirmations, as well as speaking at 17 public schools, some until as late as 2007.

He was not added to the "Lambeth List", which identifies clergyman about whom there are questions as to their suitability for ministry.

He was convicted of the offences after a renewed investigation into his actions was opened in 2012 following a review of past cases by then-Archbishop Dr Rowan Williams.

It also said that he "sought to exploit his contact with members of the Royal Family in order to bolster his position".

In a statement, Lord Carey said the report "makes deeply uncomfortable reading" and apologised to Ball's victims.

He added: "I believed Peter Ball's protestations and gave too little credence to the vulnerable young men and boys behind these allegations".

The current Bishop of Gloucester, the Right Revd Rachel Treweek, said she was "greatly shocked and distressed" by the report.

She said: "The report presents a devastating account of Peter Ball’s abuse and it is a matter of deep shame and regret that a Bishop in the Church of England committed such horrendous crimes and that as a Church we repeatedly failed to act and protect those who came forward for help.

“I feel immensely sad that Neil Todd took his own life and is not with us today – I wish to commend his tenacity and courage and that of other victims and survivors."

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Barbara Blaine, founder of SNAP, passed away on Sunday, September 24th, 2017. Her dying was sudden and completely unexpected. Words cannot express our sorrow nor are there words to express our gratitude for her relentless advocacy. She truly was a hero. There is an old saying, “well behaved women seldom make history”. Barbara made history and the world is a better place.

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50 State AG Call for Grand Jury

Write a letter to the attorney general of your state. Demand, request, and beg them to impanel a grand jury.

Any investigation must be:

independent of and separate from the church

must have subpoena powers and ability to compel testimony under oath

Anything short of these criteria is a sham and whitewash.

In addition, write letters to the editor, make phone calls to politicians as they can apply pressure to keep them responsive to our demand. We need to make efforts to ensure that they follow up on what the state is doing to investigate these crimes.

The Attorneys General of forty states have inquired about the grand jury process in Pennsylvania. Let's get statewide investigations going in fifty states.

Note to Letter Writers

Use your own words and style of writing. Cut and paste from the templates as you wish. Include your experiences, whether as a survivor or as a member of the community. And relate your letter to the state you were abused in or state now living in.